Ingredients:

• 500g – 16oz Strong Flour (Allinson Premium White Very Strong Bread Flour)
• 20 g – 2 Tbs Yeast (Allinson Dried Active Yeast)
• 1 Cup – 240ml of Water (luke warm)
• 70g – 6 Tbs Unrefined Caster Sugar
• 10g –  2 Tsp Sea salt
• 250g – 8 oz Organic Butter – ( at room temperature, but not too soft).

1. Sieve the flour, sugar, and the salt into a large mixing bowl and add the dry yeast and combine all of these dry ingredients.

2. Add the warm water to the dry ingredients and mix well.

3. Mix well with a spoon until a dough ball forms in the mixing bowl and bring together using your hands. The dough may appear slightly dry at this stage – this is normal so there is no need to add any more water.

4. Prepare a work surface with a sprinkling of flour and kneed the dough well for 15 minutes until smooth and elastic. Kneading is tough but necessary. Form a neat dough ball when finished.

5. Using a knife score, a cross incision into the dough. Lightly grease a large mixing bowl with butter.

6. Place the dough into the bowl and with a plastic bag. Store the dough in a warm place for 2 hours until it doubles in size.

7. Take a sheet of greaseproof paper and slice the butter to ‘tiles’ and place alongside each other to create a flat rectangle. Take a second piece of parchment paper and place over the butter and tap the butter lightly to flatten it using the rolling pin.

8. Roll the butter into a rectangular butter sheet – aim for 1 cm in thickness - no thinner. Place the butter sheet in the refrigerator to chill for the remainder of the 2 hour dough rising period.

9. This is how your dough will look after 2 hours – it will have doubled in size and be full of air and the cross barely visible.

10.Prepare a work surface and a rolling pin with a sprinkling of flour.  Kneed the dough well for another 15 minutes – this time pushing out all the air.

11.Roll out the dough to an even rectangle. This dough is very elastic and should spring and stretch as you roll it. It may take a few good rolls before the desired size is reached.

12. Remove the butter sheet from the fridge and place it on the dough ensuring the rectangle is 3 times longer in than the butter sheet – if not then continue to roll until it is the desired size and shape.

13. Place the butter sheet on top of the rolled pastry dough in a central position - then envelop the butter within the dough ensuring that you enclose the butter completely. Start by folding each edge into the centre.

14. Then fold these two ends over for a second time as if closing a book.

15. Turn the shortest pastry edge to face you and roll out a large rectangle again. Repeat the two previous folding steps. When complete, wrap the dough in a sheet of grease proof paper and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

16. After 30 minutes re –roll the pastry and repeat the previous folding steps – Wrap the dough once again and return to the refrigerator. You will need to refrigerate and re roll the dough another 3 times (so that makes 4 times in total) over a 2 hour period. Following the final rolling – wrap the dough in some greaseproof or parchment paper – and then place into a plastic bag – and refrigerate overnight.

17. In the Morning, un wrap your dough and place onto a floured work surface. You will need to re-roll, re-fold and re-wrap and refrigerate the dough twice more. This process will take an hour. You will notice the difference in the texture and appearance of your dough – it will begin to look and feel wonderful.

18. Your pastry dough will then be ready for use in the recipes I introduce in the weeks to follow. So for now I suggest you freeze this pastry until it is required. Allow up to 4 hours for thawing before use. There you have it…Perfect French Pastry!!